R = Rachel Carson

Marine biologist, conservationist, writer and editor, Rachel Carson pioneered in government service during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Her service to science and the environment has lasting impact into the 21^st century.

Rachel Carson was the daughter of a successful insurance salesman. Her childhood was spent exploring the 65 acre family farm and reading Herman Melville and Robert Louis Stevenson. She attended college in the 1920s changing her major from English to Biology.

Her pioneering scientific work focused attention on pesticides and the negative and cumulative impact on the environment. Her work directly brought about the ban on DDT.

She served as the editor of the Fish and Wildlife Service publications and supervised the writing staff by 1945. She wrote articles for Reader’s digest and the New York Times as well as penning  the bestseller ‘Under the Sea Wind’ and ‘Silent Spring’.

Her work inspired others to found the Environmental Protection Agency. Her research and writing has continued to find its way into current publications including the Scientist of the Food and Drug Administration, and giving the base information for the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.

More about Rachel Carson: http://www.rachelcarson.org/